Flash floods and landslides killed 141 people in Sri Lanka, and forecasters warned more rain was on the way, state media reported. About 150,000 people who fled their homes are being housed in temples, schools and public buildings, officials said. The area worst affected was the Ratnapura district, southeast of the capital. Officials said among the dead were 47 people buried when a landslide wiped out a village.

Recent rains have prompted a rash of landslides throughout the city, most of them on private property, officials said. "I've been here five or six years and I don't recall seeing quite so many of them at one time," building official John Gustafson said. "Every time it rains, we get a few more." As a result of storms since January, more than a dozen hillsides need to be repaired, Gustafson said, and individual property owners must pay for the work.

A small landslide sent dirt and rocks cascading onto Coast Highway just north of Laguna Beach early Monday, backing up traffic for 1 1/2 miles and causing the California Highway Patrol to issue a SigAlert. California Department of Transportation spokeswoman Pam Gorniak said the slippage was caused by a landslide that pushed about 100 cubic yards of dirt, rocks and a concrete barrier down the hillside near Crystal Cove State Park.

Landslides and floods in northern Italy killed at least 14 people over the weekend and swept away or blocked hundreds of roads, bridges and railroad tracks, officials said Sunday. Severe flooding that resulted in other deaths also hit Austria and Switzerland, breaking dams and bridges and forcing evacuations. The Italian state-run RAI broadcast network said dozens of villages and towns were isolated, reachable only by helicopters or on foot.

Landslides and flooding in a mountainous region of Soviet Georgia killed more than 50 people and destroyed hundreds of houses Wednesday night, Soviet television reported Thursday. The television showed wrecked buildings in a sea of mud, rocks and melting snow, with rescue teams picking through the shattered remains for survivors in the Adzharia region, close to the Soviet border with Turkey. It said 52 people had been caught in the deluge which had hit the village of Tsablana.

A $169,413 contract has been awarded to a Los Angeles firm for preparation of a geotechnical engineering study on landslide problems in the Las Flores Canyon area of Malibu, according to Supervisor Deane Dana. The firm of Dames and Moore will conduct the study for the three active landslides in the canyon: Rambla Pacifica, Calle del Barco and Las Flores Mesa. Rambla Pacific Road has been closed to through traffic since the summer of 1984.

Wind and rain began pelting weary residents of this quake-stricken city today, triggering fears of landslides that abruptly sent hundreds of new evacuees fleeing to relief centers already overwhelmed by 300,000 refugees. The grim weather, landslides and warnings of possible new tremors sent relief workers scurrying to protect food supplies and battered anew the spirit of victims who had endured Japan's worst earthquake disaster in 70 years.

City officials are warning residents to take landslide precautions such as stabilizing hilltops and slopes before the rainy season begins. More than 100 homes suffered serious damage last year when rain-soaked slopes began to slip last year. City Hall has issued a set of guidelines for homeowners to determine whether excavation permits are needed to repair slopes on private property that is still damaged. The information can be picked up from the city engineering division at 910 Calle Negocio.

Owners of two homes that were damaged or destroyed when hillsides gave way after January's heavy rains filed suit Tuesday against the City of Anaheim, Orange County and the Metropolitan Water District. Douglas and Georgia Jacobs and Larry and Linda Mauzey contend that the agencies were negligent in allowing the homes to be built on what they said was an unstable area. The Jacobs asked for more than $3 million in damages; the Mauzeys $2 million. A third Anaheim Hills property owner, Louis A.

A landslide buried more than 21 homes in central Turkey, injuring nine people and leaving 16 missing, officials said. Rescue crews searching for survivors dug with shovels and bare hands in Sugozu village, but rivers of brown mud still flowing down the snow-covered hills forced them to call off their efforts for the day, said Hasan Canpolat, governor of Sivas province, southeast of Ankara.